Mobile to Bay Minette, AL

36 miles

Time on the Road ~ Approximately 4 hours

Short day - later than usual start. At 8:30 took a group photo at a park near the hotel. The woman standing behind me is the wife of the man who was using my camera, as well as many others. All she could say was "He doesn't know anything about cameras." I think he did just fine. 

Before we left the trailer where we had packed our lunches and snacks and eaten our breakfast, Holly noticed that her cyclometer was not working. Not a problem - we had mine to work with. As we rode over to the park, I noticed that my cyclometer was not working either. Since it was a short day, with all of us in matching jerseys, we decided it would be easy enough to get to our destination - and it was. We crossed a number of bridges, one of which was 1.6 miles long, and near the end of our 36 miles, we were in rolling hills. The wind we encountered as we drove from Pensacola to Mobile is still around, but less so - fortunately - but with a lot of it being in our face. Half of us are in the Holiday Inn and the other women are at the Windwood Inn just down the road a bit. Since there are vacancies at this motel, we believe the reasoning behind this was to give all of us non-smoking rooms. Apparently, we will be dealing with "smoking" rooms off and on during the first week. 

Some long-distance rides have a significant beginning point and end point. Some do not. When we left New Orleans, there was nothing that told us we were at the end of the Mississippi River, other than the fact that we were. However, when we arrived at Lake Itasca there were many significant things that told us we were at the spot where the Mississippi River is born. In 1998 our beginning and end points were the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. For this ride, the best we can use as a significant starting point would be the plaque in the photo I have attached. 

Tomorrow is a long one - 102 miles. We'd better get our bikes in order. It's good to be back on the road, to be laughing and struggling all at the same time. 

My turn in the shower. Thanks for stopping by. Holly and Judi

Mobile At Last ~ Holly and Judi

Lunch at the Atlanta Airport

Felice got me to FLL in such good time, despite the fact that it was rush hour, that, for the modest fee of $5 I was able to get onto an earlier flight to Atlanta. Holly and I arrived nearly the same time. Flights were good, Pensacola airport small and easy to move through, full size rental car was a dream - total cost, including gas at the end of the drive, $36, Mapquest right on the money getting us to Cadence 120 Bicycle Works, Mobile airport, where we dropped the car, was a NIGHTMARE to get out of. We waited more than an hour for a taxi to take us back into town. We shared the taxi with two other women from the group and are at the historic Battle House Hotel in downtown. It is beautiful and our room is huge. We walked down to a small cafe for a light dinner, ran into our guide, Laurie, as well as Lois, one of the riders from last year's Mississippi River ride. We are beat. It is 10PM Central Time - which means 11PM at home. Holly has been up since 4:00 and I since 3:30. Time to rest. Thanks for visiting. 

We stopped along the highway to take this photo.

Our First State Line Sign

Happy 90th Daddy!!!

Left to Right ~ Alan Deutsch, Harold Deutsch, Richard Deutsch

on the family farm in Ohio.

Today is my Dad's 90th birthday. We celebrated early because Janet, his wife of nearly 25-years, has four children, numerous grandchildren and two great-granchildren, many of whom live in distant states. However, every year they all come to South Florida for spring break, generally having one day when they are all in town. My Dad's party was planned to coordinate with that one day ~ and thankfully it was not a mid-week day.

So, today's the day that Richard Deutsch, the remaining child of Morris and Gertrude Deutsch, is 90. His parents and most of his siblings reached well into their 90s, and I hope to surpass all of them, reaching 104 (and still riding my bicycle). My wish for all of you reading this ~ long and healthy years.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you.

Your baby girl, Judi a/k/a TheWanderingJu

Mobile At Last ~ The Bike

Elisabeth is on the DHL van and out for delivery. She arrived early this morning at the DHL center in Mobile, was scanned and put onto a delivery truck within 5-minutes. Life is good.

"Round On The Ends & High In the Middle" ~ That's Ohio"

Somehow, my bicycle ended up back in Ohio at the DHL sorting center, departing just past midnight this morning. Hopefully, she is on a plane and headed DIRECTLY to Mobile. As for me, this is my last day to pull my act together. No more excuses, no more "I'll do that tomorrow" (for tomorrow we fly), no more procrastinating. This is it, P-day (that's "P" for "packing"). Will write a note when Elisabeth gets to her final DHL destination - Cadence 120 Bicycle Works. Until then it's back to work for me. I am feeling strong and ready - as is Holly. And, considering we never have more than a 10-mile ride in front of us at one time, we are confident. See ya! :-]

Where In The World is My Bike?????

Elisabeth left Fort Lauderdale on April 29 and, according to the tracking record on the DHL website, traveled a direct route to Mobile ~ Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Wilmington, Ohio to Orlando, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia. Let's map that on MapQuest, shall we? She arrived at the Atlanta Hub one day and 8 hours after I dropped her off at DHL office and promptly disappearing into "shipping hell".

Don't you just love customer service? - although, I must say, each and every person I spoke with at DHL was helpful and pleasant, and I fully realized that while speaking with them I was to keep in mind the old saying "don't shoot the messenger". What I dislike is the final answer they give to you (do they learn this at customer service school?). "Somebody will get back to you by 4:30 tomorrow afternoon" 4:30! Tomorrow! Are they kidding? Between the initial discussion with DHL last night, and my final discussion (the fourth) early this afternoon, I was passed further up the line of searchers - those unreachable people who are supposed to find your missing items and "get back to you" - but never do. My last contact, Stephen Stafford, found her because he took a little more time than the rest and, after listening to me go through the "what ifs" about buying a new bicycle when I arrived in Mobile, he knew I was frantic. He found her - back in Ohio, where her shipping box had been opened and she had been photographed and put on the DHL "lost items" internal website (I made that up for lack of a real title). While speaking with me, Stephen was looking at a photo of a red, white and blue bicycle with a water bottle in its cage - and load of other stuff in the box. Apparently, the shipping label had come off somewhere along the line. The mystery is over. Elisabeth has been found and should be delivered to The Cadence 120 Bicycle Works no later than Thursday.

Meanwhile, I am getting closer to being nearly packed and practically ready to go. So much to do and the clock is running out of time ~ and I feel frantic. Felice is taking me to the airport Thursday morning for my 10:30 flight. Holly and I will meet in Atlanta and fly together to Pensacola (What's more direct than Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta to Pensacola?) where we will pick up a rental car ($15 for the day) and drive the 45-minutes to Mobile. Since we are both doing only carry-ons, we'll stop at CVS or Rite-Aid or Walgreens for a few items that would not make it through security, stop at Cadence 120 to make arrangements for our cases to be shipped to the bike shop in Williamsville, NY that will be shipping our bikes home at the end of the ride, drop the car at the airport, and take the shuttle to our hotel. I'm tired just writing about the day. Back to packing.

Talk to you from Mobile. :-]

One Week Minus One Day

That's it! Elisabeth has been tuned up, spruced up, taken apart and sent on her way to Mobile. She should have arrived yesterday to be reassembled by the mechanics at Cadence 120 Bicycle Works.

Kath and Dave returned to England on Wednesday, I put in a 10-hour day at work yesterday (my last until June), and.... the party that celebrated my Dad's 90th birthday was a HUGE success - with 50+ attendees, 15 of which made up the "surprise" part of the party. It was a beautiful day in many ways.

Holly and I are taking spin classes - she is far more dedicated than I - to be in the best possible shape. That being said, there is nothing like being on the road - the feel of a breeze on our skin, the heat beating us nearly into submission (not always), the friendship that comes with loads of laughter, the 4:45 wake-ups, the routine that has become so familiar. We are nearly there, and I am filled with the nervous excitement that comes with a journey into the unknown. We will be in touch from Mobile and are looking forward to sharing this adventure with you.

Judi and Holly